Jost Capito believes that George Russell will be a “huge asset” to Mercedes, and hailed him for his exploits at his team.
Russell leaves Williams for the hot seat of Mercedes after three seasons. The young British driver was a revelation at the team during his time there. Multiple searing qualifying laps and a great 2021 season went some way in alleviating the heartbreaks of the first two seasons.
The pinnacle came when he took a P2 by virtue of his qualifying performance at the Belgian GP. He also qualified third-fastest overall at the Russian GP. Even though he had no business being anywhere near those pace levels, ‘Mr. Saturday’ still worked miracles.
With him set to race for a new team in 2022, Capito believes Russell will be a “huge asset” for Mercedes, and said that the future looked bright for the young man.
In an interview with Motorsport, the Williams team principal said, “George is a great team leader. And raw diamond would not good enough. He is already a polished diamond.
“And he is still not at his best, I think he can still get better. But the stage he is now he is a huge asset for every team. And so he was for us.
“And on one hand, we are sad to see him leave. But that could be expected, and we supported him to get this chance. And we are very happy for him to get the chance.”
AMG matters
After many years of hard work and dedication, Russell finds himself in a fantastic team with a great car. Mercedes have been perennial frontrunners since 2014, and they will look to maintain that position in 2022 under the new regulations.
Russell has races in their car once, when he stood in for soon-to-be teammate Lewis Hamilton after the latter tested positive for COVID-19. He raced at the Sakhir GP and stunned everyone watching, with only an absurd amount of misfortune costing him a win.
He will look to right that wrong many times over in 2022.
Read more: “New owners are investing heavily”: Capito optimistic about Williams’ F1 future